Success comes with a price, and sometimes it's having to scale to meet customer demand.It's strange to think of opening a new location as having a negative impact on your company, but there are a number of hidden dangers in doing so. For instance, businesses can see quality drop given the lack of oversight. Adopting business management software with a branch management program is the key to overcoming this obstacle.Common issuesEffectively scaling a manufacturing company relies on resolving potential problems before they have a chance to crop up. Here are a few that persistently plague growing companies:

The manufacturing industry develops at an extraordinary rate.Some aspects that may have been commonplace only 20 years ago could be entirely non-existent today. With a slew of new tools on the way thanks to the fourth industrial revolution - Industry 4.0 - the factory floor is set to undergo another change. This begs the question: What will the future of manufacturing in Australia look like?Future factories will rely on the Three C's to be effective.Watching the trendsIt's tough not to have noticed all the headlines surrounding the sector lately. Virtual reality, the Internet of Things (IOT), robotics, automation, 3-D printing - all of it will certainly become staples on the factory floor as prices begin to drop. The shift is already starting at larger corporations: Foxconn replaced 60,000 employees with robots in 2016, the BBC reported.With much of the discussion focused around how these tools can impact and benefit businesses, it's easy to lose track of how they're actually integrated in the first place. Many, if not all, of the solutions are functional with the help of cloud computing. It's the platform that provides the Three C's, and what the World Bank deems essential to modern manufacturing: connectivity, connectedness and capability.Setting up the right systemBefore investing in the technologies that will reside on the factory floor, it's imperative that organisations look first to create the foundation it resides on. Business management software that lives on the cloud is an excellent start as it fills three key needs:Platform to facilitate the flow of data and develop analytics.Back-office functionality through accounting software and other applications.Cloud and IT support from dedicated team.It's important to remember that it's not only the factory floor that is changing, but the business model as well. There's a greater emphasis on speed and efficiency, which inherently values programs that can automate bookkeeping or other important processes. What will the factory floor of the future look like? Mistakes are made when companies look to incorporate the technology first, without first understanding how the front- and back-office will communicate with each other. One instance of this is in IOT: Inventory transparency can be made possible through sensors and other tools, but it's useless if it can't transfer that information to specific departments. Then organisations scramble to find a way to connect the two, when basing all operations on one platform would've solved any problems to begin with.Is your company ready for Industry 4.0? Contact an Advanced Business Manager representative today to learn more about business management software on the cloud.

When it's all said and done, 2017 will be seen as the most successful year for Australian manufacturing in over a decade.The value of goods that are created and the investments being made into the country's economy are allowing organisations of all sizes to succeed in a variety of ways. But for as much fanfare that surrounds the sector currently, it's how companies approach the future that will dictate whether this will continue or if it will revert back to stagnation. At the heart of it all lies the changes that enterprises need to make in 2018 if they want to stay competitive.Manufacturing saw 14 consecutive months of growth.A year in reviewNovember 2017 marked the 14th month in a row that the manufacturing sector held a score above 50 on the Ai Group Performance of Manufacturing Index. Any figure above 50 indicates the industry is experiencing success, while the amount above it is from 50 represents its rate of growth, according to Business Insider.The industry's activity levels haven't been this high and prosperous since 2005. Automotive manufacturing has now been closed across the country, and the final plant that was shutdown prompted an increased rate of expansion across the general sector. Major players in the space are still trying to figure out which sub-sectors will be taking lead, but improvements in new orders and exports mean success is likely on the way in 2018 regardless, Business Insider reported."The very large food and beverages sub-sector strengthened further, but non-metallic minerals weakened, following a strong period of demand for building products earlier in 2017," the Ai Group said. "Participants said demand from residential construction was tailing off in November. Other participants noted stronger demand for equipment, machinery and other inputs or Government projects and procurement, agriculture, renewable energy projects and the local leisure market."With a growing number of industries becoming increasingly competitive, it's likely that advantages won't be found solely in how companies approach the market space. The way these organisations operate and the internal productivity improvements they make will largely influence their direction. The closure of Australia's automobile manufacturing plants actually led to growth. The digital economyAustralian's manufacturing revolution is coming at a time where technology is having a vast impact on the way enterprises are run - and the country's gross domestic product (GDP) itself. Innovative solutions like business management software are making it easier than ever for organisations of all sizes to reduce waste of resources, streamline complex processes and improve margins.In fact, a report by Deloitte found that the average Australian benefits monetarily from digital disruption by A$4,663 each year, given the influence it has over product pricing, quality and employee productivity. Overall, the solutions are expected to contribute almost $140 billion per year to the country's GDP - or 7 per cent - by 2020 in a variety of ways.Technology will contribute 7 per cent of the country's GDP in 2020.While it's clear that solutions like robots, augmented reality headsets, drones, the Internet of Things (IoT) and wearables will all play a role for successful organisations, some industry thought leaders may be overlooking the foundational benefits of a digital platform.Many of these devices rely on transmission of information between various points in the company. This means that the shipping department should be able to digitally communicate with accounting, for example. This was previously an issue, as many organisations leveraged legacy systems for cross-departmental collaboration - this doesn't allow data to flow freely.Now, though, enterprises are adopting business management software that comes with optional modules to keep pace with the disruption taking place.